1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to an external structure of an outdoor electronic apparatus, and more particularly, to an external structure having functions of waterproof and dustproof.
2. Description of Related Art
In case of a lighting apparatus installed outdoors, it is essential of providing efficient water and dust-proof methods for the lighting apparatus. The outdoor lighting apparatus may encounter bad weathers, such as heavy thunderstorms or snowy, which may all damage the lighting apparatus. A heavy thunderstorm has such a huge momentum, speed, and rainfall amount that its rainwater may flow into a lighting apparatus using solid-state light sources with poor waterproof designs, which results in short circuit of the power supply of the lighting apparatus and malfunction of the lighting apparatus. Therefore, a design of waterproof structure is essential for the installation of the outdoor lighting apparatus.
Recently, in order to prevent the outdoor lighting apparatus from the influence of moisture, various external structures providing waterproof and dustproof functions for power supplies have been developed. A known external structure for a power supply includes a housing, a waterproof gasket, a metal end cover, a wire bushing (or a waterproof connector for wires), and screws that are independent from each other. Main electronic components (e.g., a circuit board) of the power supply are disposed in the housing. The waterproof gasket covers an opening of the housing. The metal end cover abuts against the waterproof gasket toward the opening of the housing, and the screws fix the metal end cover, the waterproof gasket, and the housing to each other, so that the housing can achieve the waterproof purpose. Furthermore, a power line of the power supply connecting the main electronic components subsequently passes through the waterproof gasket, the metal end cover, and the wire bushing and extends out of the housing. That is, the sealing capability between the wire bushing and the metal end cover play the decisive role to the performance of waterproof and dustproof of the external structure.
However, the aforementioned external structure for the power supply has following defeats: (1) when the waterproof gasket is assembled to the housing, the waterproof gasket is unable to be efficiently positioned and easy to be damaged; (2) the wire bushing and the metal end cover are difficult to close together due to tolerance; (3) although having good sealing performance, the wire bushing is too expensive so as to reduce the price competitiveness of the overall product; (4) the volume of the waterproof connector for wires is too large, so it is difficult to be used in products having a plurality of outputting power lines; and (5) the respective components are independent with other, such that the entire structure is complicated and difficult to be assembled.